Fucking Christmas - Christmas Story 2017

It’s a dark morning and the sun has yet to rise. Theo’s mouth is dry and his body is sore and unpleasant. He wants to go back to sleep but an annoying buzzing, sounds in his ear and the urge to pee grows for every second he is awake. His eyes are hurting and itching. His right arm is completely numb; he must have been sleeping on it for some time. He rolls over and with much trouble swings his arm out of bed, trying to find his phone between the empty vodka bottles. He has been drinking himself to sleep lately. After some fumbling he manages to close his fingers around the phone. With his whole body he drags his arm back into bed. The clock says four in the morning, Monday the fourth of December. The urge to pee has become so intense that he has to get up. He slides out on the rug covered floor and crawls his way around the apartment to the bathroom as standing up would make him vomit. He makes his way under the shower, turns it on and just lets everything go. He just lays there for about two hours, soaking in the water to sooth his hangover. At six he crawls out of the shower feeling slightly refreshed and nausea free. He finds himself a bag of barbecue chips and a bottle of soda, while waiting some nuggets to bake in the oven. There’s still an hour before he has to think of getting to work. He just sits on his sofa, enjoying his food and watches Disney Channel until he has to leave.

It has almost been ten years since his parents died in an accident. At the day of Christmas Eve he was out playing in the snow with his friends while his parents were preparing dinner. He returned home after hours of playing to a violent fire that was burning fiercely and many firefighters trying to save the remains of his home. He got sent to live with his old shallow minded and extremely religious grandparents. His whole life got turned around that day, losing his home, family, friends and Christmas spirit. In the two years he had to live with his grandparents he weren’t allowed to read or watch any modern books or movies that their church hadn’t approved. Even his choice of education and future had to be approved by their church. He kept his head down and played along until the day he turned eighteen where he left his Grandparents at the first chance he got. He had inherited a good amount of money from his parents and from the insurance which he spent on a loft apartment in Copenhagen. Though he is wealthy he works hard every day at a warehouse packing and shipping orders all day. He prefers to earn his own money as they are untainted by his parents’ death.

He takes the bus just outside his house at half past seven. It is crowded with people like always. There are no seats left and he has to stand in the middle, getting crushed by everybody walking in and out at every stop. The radio plays Last Christmas by Wham and people are wearing Santa hats. There is even this one dude that really annoys Theo; he is wearing denim shorts, a thin t-shirt, bare feet in vans and a Santa hat and nothing more. He just stands in the bus like it is summer outside, like he is some kind of undercover elf from the North Pole. Theo often uses the bus ride to imagine new ways this Christmas lover could get hurt. He arrives at work just in time to check in at eight. His work today is easy, nothing out of the ordinary. Just follow the list and pack some stuff in boxes, label it and send it. He walks around with music in his ears while working; it makes it easier to ignore his co-workers in this big boring warehouse. He enjoys his work for one simple reason; it moves his focus from the dread and loneliness that haunts him. Sometimes he thinks about socialising with his co-workers but that is only until he looks at them. They are a bunch of miscreant misfits that is only there to make some easy money on a low skill job. They show up late, make trouble, have sex in the storage rooms and generally have a bad attitude. He is glad he doesn’t have to interact with the others. He just wants to do his job and forget his pain like he has done the past seven years. He got this job after he moved to Copenhagen. He tried to get an education but couldn’t focus on the future. He just needed to make it work for now. The workday is ten hours long and he earns more money than he needs. On his way home he stops in the local store where a bottle of vodka and soda is often on the shopping list and his meals usually consist of various frozen foods. Today he buys a pack of frozen pizza. Cooking reminds him of his family and childhood. He lives five minutes from the store in walking distance. With the pizza, vodka and soda he walks home.

“Can you make the Christmas a little better for a homeless?” A soft female voice sounds near him.

He makes a small sigh at the word Christmas and ignores the request for money. At home he drinks his vodka to a slightly burned pizza while watching Stranger than Fiction once again. At nine he passes out drunk in his bed with the vodka in his hand. At four the alarm goes off and he drags himself out of the bed to the bathroom to throw up and then gets in the shower trying to get ready for yet another day in his dreadful life. The water soothes his headache and he falls asleep. After an hour he wakes up again and throws up in the toilet before cleaning off. He puts a breakfast pizza in the oven and drops down in front of the TV. He picks a not too dirty t-shirt from the floor. He is now ready for another long day at work. Today he is lucky and gets a window seat on the bus where he half asleep listens to Kylie Minogue’s version of Santa baby. He stares out of the window and sees a green light flying across the sky, crashing down just outside of Copenhagen. The other passengers are suddenly annoyingly active and discusses what just happened. He has no energy for this and is concentrating on staying awake and not throwing up. Luckily he arrives at work five minutes later.

“Are you hungover again Theo?” his boss asks very stern “this is your second warning this month, now get working and it is only the fourth”.

Theo stares at his boss for a second before answering disrespectful with a burp “I’m fine. But I think the young couple is having sex in the storage room again you should go stop them”.

He has been working at this place three years longer than his new boss has and he is currently the best worker even on his bad days. His boss gives him an angry glare but then walks off to check if someone is having sex in the storage rooms. Theo puts music in his ears and starts working undisturbed until his mandatory lunch break where he finds his usual place in the break room and eats some fruit and a sandwich from the vending machines. His co-workers are unusually quiet today as they stare at the break-room TV. 

Theo stops his music to figure out what is going on “… earlier today a meteorite hit a bus about a hundred meters north of Copenhagen and it has just been confirmed that the meteorite has given the injured some kind of superpower…”. 

At this point Theo stops listening and turns on his music. “Superpowers at Christmas time” he thinks to himself “this sounds like a bad story, glad I’m not the main character” he continues his thoughts and is reminded of the movie Stranger than Fiction that he saw last night “someone is going to have a really bad life if that were true”.

He gets back to work and focusses on his job until he can go home. Though he can’t hear the others he can see that they are clearly wasting their time on this stupid superhero story. He doesn’t waste more time than needed in this warehouses and catches the first bus home. But the traffic is slow and heavy.

The bus takes several detours around town and the bus driver calls over the speakers “because of the meteorite earlier today, this is the final stop on our route”.

Theo is one kilometre away from his usual stop and annoyed he starts walking through dark alleyways home. After turning several corners, he bumps into a red-haired woman wearing a small black dress, yellow high heels and a silver shoulder purse. They both fall over backwards and before he can say anything she has gotten up and walked away. She has dropped her purse and he wonders if he should do a good deed. He is about to leave the purse behind but succumbs to his better nature. He turns around, picks up the purse and runs after the girl down through the dark alleyway.

“Hey! Wait!” he yells after her.

She doesn’t hear him until he gets up to her and places a hand on her shoulder “wait a second”.

Shocked by the sudden touch and the view of Theo with her purse in his hands she screams “THIEF! STALKER! CREEP!” and grabs the purse. The woman slaps him and runs out to a more crowded road while continuing to scream.

Theo looks shocked “what the fuck! Lady, chill for a second” he yells after her.

But people have started gathering around the woman and looks to the alleyway she ran out of. Theo turns around and runs before the situation escalates. Two streets away he slows down to a walk.

“So much for a good deed” he mumbles for himself as he walks home, while kicking to everything on his way.

“Please be careful what you are kicking in this alley, you just ruined my bed” a soft female voice says and surprises Theo.

He looks around and sees a young black haired woman with big brown eyes, standing between two containers near a small fire. He finds her quite cute though her pale skin is very dirty.

“I’m sorry, didn’t see you there” he apologises.

 

“Are you okay?” she asks concerned and interested.

“Yeah… yeah it’s fine, had a bad day but nothing a drink can’t fix”

“Are you sure? Cause you don’t look fine, you look like you could need a hug” she says softly “my name is Abby”.

“Sorry about your bed. I’m Theo”.

For a short moment they look into each other’s eyes. The light seems to change, music stars playing and then they suddenly start to sing.

Excuse me for asking but why are you out here
You shouldn’t be living in this cold, in this night

Pretty boy who did hurt you

Is there no one in your life?

Once I was happy living in a dream

Floating around in pure ecstasy

Before the world hurt me and threw me around

Before life got me and put me to ground

I lost all my family ten years ago
An accident took them from me
I dropped education, I dropped out of life
Hiding my sorrows deep down inside

I lost all my money six months ago

Kicked out of my apartment by a boy I once knew

He took all my stuff, he took all my pride

Let me live on the street while he took flight

But you still have your beauty

You still have your life

Your kindness and smile

Your home and your things

You are better than most people I’ve met in this life

I can take your pain a way

So I’m gonna help you get back your pride

If you let me in

Unlikely that we should meet

Two damaged persons in the street

Clinging to the lives we have

Hoping that it all will pass

So let’s take this fight together

Come on take my hand

We’ll go through this stormy weather

Till the promised laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand

Snow starts to fall as they finish the song together in harmony with a dance. Slightly exhausted they are facing each other.

“A duet with no apparent source of music” Theo mumbles “this only happens in bad movies and that must mean I’m the lead in this stupid story”.

“What?” Abby asks baffled and confused about Theo’s comment.

“Nothing” he says and hands her his coat and pulls out fifty dollars “nice to meet you, have a good night”.

Theo walks home, freezing and hungry. This day has certainly been different from all other days. At home he puts a pizza in the oven and falls down on the couch. Abby was quite a beautiful girl but this is too weird. If this is really a story like Stranger than Fiction the author must be some inexperienced loser or just really bad. The story doesn’t make sense. What does a meteorite and superheroes have to do with his life? And if he isn’t part of the story why would get an uncontrollable duet with a complete stranger? Consumed by his thoughts he forgets the pizza burning in the oven. He eats the burned pizza with a big glass of vodka. If his life is going to be part of a stupid story he won’t take any part in it. Drunk he passes out on the couch and has livid dreams of meteors singing duets.

The alarm goes off at four and he wakes up stiff like a board with a crick in the neck. The TV has been on the whole night and is now playing Romeo and Juliette. He turns it off and goes to continue his sleep in the shower again. But for some reason his loneliness feels larger than ever and as the warm water runs down his body, tears forms in his eyes. The warmth feels oddly comfortable and he cries for three hours. He doesn’t want to leave this warm protecting place and go back to the real world of cold and pain. But he has to get out and get to work. He can’t stay here, the loneliness is tearing a hole inside him and he needs the distraction. The bus route is still altered because of the meteorite. Freezing and cold he walks through the streets covered in fresh snow. He avoids the street where he met the Abby. He won’t take the chance. It doesn’t matter if it was a weird accident or if there is an author. The traffic is heavy and the bus is even more crammed with people than usual. Smothered by big wet winter jackets he arrives an hour late to work. His boss is waiting in the door for him but Theo rushes by him annoyed by the long uncomfortable bus ride. He is in no mood for interacting with anyone at this moment. He just wants to do his job and block the world out for the next ten hours. He pads his pockets for his headset and realises that he left it in the coat he gave to Abby. What was he thinking off giving away his coat to a stranger? Now he is without music and has to get a new coat.

“… I heard one of them can fly …”

“… I saw one shoot ice from her hands …”

“… That’s my girlfriend, yeah I’m dating one of them …”

“… Shut up Thomas, why you lie …”

A group of his co-workers say in a conversation near his workstation. He guesses that they are talking about the people getting hit by the meteorite. He rolls his eyes over this ridiculous conversation. And whenever he finds a little freedom from his co-workers he is tormented by Christmas music constantly playing on the radio. At lunch time he grabs some food and tries to follow the news on the TV.

“… Tonight was one of the coldest nights this year and the police have reported that at least fifteen homeless people have frozen to death so far and sixty homeless have been rushed to the hospitals to receive medical care. And in other news, our new super humans have all recovered from their injuries. We have a reporter out to talk with some of them about what they want to use their new powers to …”.

Theo leaves the room as the news starts to talk about superpowers and walks right into his boss.

“You were late to work” his boss says condescending.

Theo looks at him, takes a deep relaxing breath and smiles “sorry, but the traffic was horrible today, apparently someone didn’t consider the effect there would follow a meteorite hitting three kilometres north of here” he says sarcastically and tries to walk away.

His boss stops him “I need you to take your job and me serious” he says and power poses to intimidate Theo.

“I need to take this job serious? You mean like the two, who have had sex in the storage rooms for two hours or the fifteen others who have spent three hours discussing what a good superpower would be or maybe like the boss who didn’t realise that any of this was going on” Theo says and forces his way through his boss.

He has had enough of work and everybody today and leaves. He takes the bus to nearest shopping mall, to buy a new coat and headset. Unfortunately for him it is filled with Christmas shoppers and a fifty person Christmas choir. He pushes his way through the crowd up to a gentleman clothing store on the next floor where he finds a nice beige trench coat. The cashier who was standing halfway out of the store trying to enjoy the choir returns annoyed that she suddenly has customers. She rushes through the sale and pushes him out of the door. But she forgets to take of the alarm and it interrupts the choir. People complain loudly and send him angry stare. Under a lot of commotion the cashier gets the alarm turned off. He gets angry glares from several people as he buys a new headset and walks to the exit. The Christmas crowd is standing everywhere trying to enjoy the choir making it troublesome to walk down the escalators. He tries to push his way through but a big woman pushes back making him trip. He falls down the escalator taking several people with him. Multiple people are hurt in the fall and start to angrily yell and search for the cause of the accident. Theo ducks his head and hurries for the exit. A child with a Santa hat punches him in the dick as he reaches the door. He contained several bruises and holes got ripped in his pants, his chin is bruised and under his right eye is a small cut. This is one of the reasons he hates Christmas; there are too many people stressing about being joyful. While catching his breath at the door a young woman and a large military looking man steps outside. She has bruises similar to those Theo contracted from falling down the escalator.

“Hey. You. You were on the escalator” the man says and points at Theo “look what you did to my girlfriend. She’s pregnant; you could make her lose my baby”.

He grabs Theo and throws him up against the wall.

“It wasn’t my fault” Theo gasps as the man’s grip tightens “someone pushed me and the next I know, I was on the ground. I didn’t do anything”.

The man is about to punch Theo in the face but his girlfriend steps in “please Brad, think about our baby, that worm isn’t worth it” she says through her tears.

Brad reluctantly lets go of Theo “you’re lucky punk” he says and walks away with his girlfriend.

Hurt, he slender home and walks through the alleyway near Abby’s location.

“Are you okay” her soft voice sounds soothing.

He is surprisingly glad to hear her voice and he can feel his body calming down and the pain disappear as he turns around to look at her. This is the best moment of his entire day.

“I’m really fine, thank you” he says and a smile forms on his face.

She notices the cut under his eye and his ripped jeans “oh my God, what happened to you” she asks and touches his face lightly “does it hurt?”

“It’s nothing, really, it has been a hard day but it is all better now. You want to go and get something to drink or eat? I could use a talk with a friendly voice”.

She inspects his face for a second and then smiles “sure I’d love to but you would have to pay” she laughs.

They take a casual stroll through the streets of Copenhagen in lovely conversation. But he can’t stop thinking about what she sang in their duet.

Abby turns to Theo “what do you want to ask? I can see in your face you been formulating a question the twenty minutes” she laughs.

“I was wondering how a pretty and decent person like you has ended up homeless. You sang something about someone stealing your stuff and apartment” Theo says trying to sound nonchalant.

“Two years ago I moved to Copenhagen from a small town over in Jutland. I wanted to make art and live with my boyfriend. I had bought an apartment with help from my parents. My parents moved to England as they always wanted. It was fine and everything went well, we were in love. Or so I thought. One day six months ago, I was out buying some more paint and enjoy the weather. But when I came home I was locked out of the apartment and I had left my phone inside. I went to find the caretaker, he told me that the apartment had been sold and my boyfriend just moved out with everything and left no trace. I went to the bank and all my money was gone. I turned to the police and they told me they are looking into it but I haven’t heard from them” she tells him.

He is shocked by her story but to his surprise she is smiling.

“What about your parents? Weren’t they able to help you out?” he asks curiously.

“After I moved away from home, they moved to Paris for new work opportunities and I haven’t been able to get a hold of them yet” Abby explains.

They pass a Christmas market and Theo rolls his eyes in contempt.

“What’s wrong? You don’t like Christmas markets?” she asks wondering.

“It’s not really the market; it’s more Christmas in general. Every year, people walk around pretending to be happy and ignore everything that is wrong with the world. They don’t care about homeless people freezing to death or the wars we are still fighting all over the world. Everybody stress around trying to be jolly no matter how miserable they are in the progress. And there are all the songs and movies about love and understanding and if we just believe and have faith everything will be alright and we will get everything we want. But it’s not okay and no matter how much I believe or how much faith I have it will never bring my parents back. And also just because a story is set in December, doesn’t make it a Christmas story, the movie industry is flooding our TV’s with the same stupid romance set in December and then calls it a Christmas movie, but it doesn’t really have anything to do with Christmas” he rambles off not noticing that he is almost shouting at the end.

Abby grabs him in a tight hug to comfort him and he can feel tears rolling down his cheeks.

“It’s okay Theo, it’s okay. Let’s walk this way and find something to drink” she says and points away from the Christmas market.

It starts snowing from a clear sky as they find a small bar and orders two beers and sits at a table outside.

“So you lost your parents at Christmas time?” she asks softly as Theo calms down.

“Yeah, it was the day of Christmas Eve, they were cooking the dinner and I was out playing with my friends. The firefighters told me that a fire had started in the living room near the Christmas tree. I don’t know more but somehow they couldn’t get out” he says heart broken.

“Is that why you started to dislike Christmas?” she asks very carefully and a hint of sadness is heard in her voice.

“That and everything seems to go wrong for me at Christmas. This didn’t happen because people were jolly” he laughs and points at his face.

“It’s almost like you are the lead character in a story and your writer doesn’t like you” she teases.

“That’s crazy talk” he says and then moves closer to her “but if it were true, I don’t think we should let the writer know we know” he whispers.

“Theo, it was a joke” she says a bit worried.

“I know, but with all the things that have happened, like the superheroes, it could be true”.

“You are a weird guy” she says giving Theo a judging look “I like that in people, makes them more interesting”.

“Should we go get something to eat, I know some good places” Theo asks in an inviting manner.

“Actually, if it isn’t too intruding I would like a home cooked meal, been too long since last time. Also, if it were in any way possible, I would really love a real shower? I’m really dirty and kind of stink under all these clothes”

“I haven’t had a home cooked meal in eight years. I don’t even know how to cook. So if you can help me cook, you can have a shower” he laughs.

“You haven’t had home cooked in eight years” she exclaims shocked “that won’t do, not at all. Tonight, you are going to get some real food”.

She smiles and pulls his arm to get him moving towards a convenience store. She throws a shopping basket in his arms and runs around the store grabbing various ingredients. She reminds Theo of a small child in a candy shop allowed to buy whatever she wants. In just ten minutes she has filled the basket with all the ingredients for lasagne, garlic bread, two bottles of wine and three different kinds of ice cream. Before he can comment on the content of the basket, it has all been scanned and is only waiting for him to pay. It is slowly getting darker and the falling snow in the streetlight gives the street a more romantic and magical feeling.

Abby dances in the snow “ah this is turning out to be a good day” she says and sounds genuinely happy.

They make a short stop at Abby’s campsite, she wants to pick up some of her belongings before it gets looted by other homeless or cleaned by city workers. 

“Welcome to my place” he opens the door to his one room loft apartment “the bathroom is through that door and there is the kitchen, living room and just around the room divider is the bedroom” he continues.

“Bathroom, I could certainly use that right now. What about you open the wine and I’ll be out in a second to start the dinner” Abby says all natural as she walks out in the bathroom.

“There should be a towel under the sink”.

Theo makes a quick sweep of the apartment for empty vodka bottles, trash and laundry. He cleans the coffee table before pouring the wine. He is nervous he never thought that anyone was going to be in his apartment beside him.  He hasn’t dated since he was sixteen, he isn’t even sure that this is a date and what if it is, does she expect anything from him. He finds a vinyl of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake and plays it on his record player. After almost half an hour in the bathroom, Abby dances out in a red dress and with a big smile on her face.

“Oh my God! A bath was so what I needed” she says and rubs her smooth clean skin. She walks out in the kitchen starts chopping vegetable “come, let me show you how to cook”.

He hands her a glass of wine and follows her instructions as she gives them. He is really bad at cooking but they soon get the sauce to simmer.

Abby walks out of the kitchen and does a few ballet steps “I love the Swan Lake. I did ballet and was once a swanling as a kid” she says a does some more steps. 

“Yeah the Swan Lake is beautiful. I got a bunch of vinyl with opera and ballet and this record player at a really good price on the internet” he says and watches her dancing “why did you stop doing ballet?”

“My body started developing early. Both my doctor and trainer told me that it was unlikely for me to go professional with my current grow rate as ballet dancers normally have a small bust. So I did continued for a few years and stopped before it was too late. Ironically my body turned out to be perfect for ballet” she explains while pushing her chest forward to show that her breasts aren’t that big.

He chokes on his wine surprised by this situation and he is unsure how much he is allowed to look at her boobs.

“Maybe we should look at the food” he says with teary eyes as he starts dry up the wine.

Abby closes the oven door after a few minutes “the food is in the oven, it should be ready in about half an hour”.

They dump down in the couch to wait for the lasagne.

“OH MY GOD, look at my legs! Feel them, aren’t just super soft. It’s been a long time since they been so soft and smooth” she squeals of joy and throws her legs in his lap.

Theo carefully feels her leg and nervously stammers “uhm, yup, that sure is a leg that is uhm soft”.

“Yum! The food is ready. I’ve been starving in like forever” Abby says and serves the lasagne with garlic bread and more wine.

After a nice and fun dinner with many jokes and good stories she gets up and starts collecting her items.

“Well it’s been lovely, this evening has been so very nice, but it’s getting late. I have taken a lot of your time and I shouldn’t intrude too much in your life” she says with a sad tone.

He doesn’t want her to leave. Tonight was one of the best evenings since his parents died. For once he felt truly happy. But he doesn’t know anything about her. She is basically a total stranger and could kill him during the night or steal all his stuff. Then again many homeless froze to death.

“You don’t have to go. I mean you could stay here for some time. I mean it is very cold outside, people died tonight” he says as a knot of nervousness starts to form in his stomach.

She smiles a sad smile “no, what wouldn’t your neighbours say if you started letting homeless people stay. It’s not good for the housing prices to let homeless stay too long”.

“They can all go screw themselves”.

“But…” she starts.

He interrupts her by lightly taking her coat from her hands and puts it on a chair.

“It is alright” he takes her hand and leads her to the couch where he pours another glass of wine.

She smiles joyful and cuddles up to Theo “can we watch a movie, anything is fine” she asks.

The alarm goes off at six. They had fallen asleep on the couch in each other’s arms. Theo slowly gets up without disturbing Abby too much. He turns off the alarm and walks out of the apartment and down to the local baker for some bread and cake. He returns after a few minutes and they share a breakfast together. 

“I’m going to work in a bit. You can stay. My computer is open so you can use it to contact your parents. You must be missing them. I will call you on skype when I’m on my way back and we can take it from there”.

“Are you sure you are okay with that, I mean we don’t really know each other. I can stay outside until you come back”.

“It’s fine, if you wanted to steal from me, you could have done it during the night” Theo laughs and grabs his coat “see you later”.

He walks through the alleyways to the bus. He can feel he is happy and the world seems a little brighter, but it could be because of the five centimetre snow covering Copenhagen today. The traffic has become lighter and the bus ride doesn’t seem so crowded anymore. He arrives to work in time with music in his ears to tune out his co-workers. Work goes smooth until his boss walks up to Theo’s workstation.

“Theo, we need to talk in my office” he says as Theo takes off his. As Theo closes the door behind him his boss talks again “together with the higher bosses, we have decided to let you go. Your behaviour is irregular and disrespectful and we have decided that we can’t have people like you work for us anymore. We want to create a new image for our workers” his boss says in a calm matter but with a hand close to the intercom like he expects the need to call security.

“You are firing me? I’m your best packer! I have been working here for eight years and I have never asked for a raise or promotion because I like to be down here packing. And what about every other of those miscreants out there, half of them aren’t even working, are you going to fire all of them?” his voice rises in power for every word he utters.

“You can leave in a calm manner or I will get someone to escort you out. And yes, most of them out there are going to be fired but that is normal, most of them don’t even work here more than a month anyway”.

Theo is about to yell even more but stops himself, he turns around and walks out the door and slams it hard behind him. As he walks away from the warehouse back to the bus stop he passes a red-haired woman walking with two big guys. At second glance he notices it is the girl that accused him of being a creepy stalker. He tries to hide his face but she recognises him as well.

“THAT’S HIM, THAT’S THE CREEP WHO TRIED STEALING MY PURSE” she yells to the guys with him.

One of them grabs him and the other starts beating him up. After fifteen minutes of punching and kicking Theo they leave him alone. He has contracted a big black eye, a fat lip, the cut under his eye has open up, he got kicked several times in the stomach and in the balls and blood is running down his neck and back. He gets up and calls Abby on Skype as he gets on the bus but she doesn’t answer. The bus is back on its normal route and stops outside his home but he isn’t on it. Abby stands in the apartment and looks out over the street, waiting for him to come home. She saw the missed call half an hour ago and thought it meant that Theo was on his way home. She isn’t exactly sure of how long it takes for him to come home or where he comes from. She just waits looking out the window. Another half hour goes by before Theo comes limping down the street with a hand on his stomach.

She runs outside to meet him and help him inside “oh my God, what happened? Where have you been? I’ve been looking for you the last hour” she says as she grabs him in a hug.

He grunts as she touches him. He is hurting all over.

“I got fired from the job and on my way home I ran into a girl who apparently doesn’t want me to live; she had to goons beat me up” he manages to say between grunts.

Abby helps him up in the apartment and starts tending to his wounds.

“I got on the bus after I called you, but I didn’t feel safe. I think the author is out to get me killed. So I got off after one stop and took a detour home, in hope he couldn’t find me and hurt me more” he says as he sits on the couch.

“You do know, that there is no author, right?” she is very concerned.

“I can’t say that for sure, not with everything going wrong, I start to believe that there is one. You are the only thing that has gone right, everything ells is going to shit”.

A single tear runs down her cheek “Theo…” she looks him in the eyes and gets up on the couch with him “I like you too” she says and kisses him on the cheek “I have good news; I got in contact with my parents. They are sending me money to help me out and they want me to come to England for Christmas. They say they miss me and that they have been trying to contact me for a long time and I really miss them too. But I promise I will come back again after Christmas”.

She looks both happy and sad at the same time and Theo lays his arms around her.

“I am really happy for you” he says and kisses her forehead, he is doing what he can to suppress his tears “when are you leaving then?” he asks.

“I’ll be leaving tomorrow in the evening, but until then I just want to spend all my time with you” she cries and he can’t hold it together any longer.

They sit there crying for an hour, just clinging to each other. 

The alarm goes off at four in the morning. He forgot to turn it off before going to bed. He grabs his phone and stops it.

“Come back” Abby says half asleep, she is lying beside him.

He falls back into the bed and she crawls up on him, placing her head on his chest. He can feel her boobs pushing into his stomach. They are both naked.

“Too early” she whispers with a chuckle as she can feel his growing erection.

They had ended up drinking a lot of wine last night and around midnight they got in bed together and had sex. It was great. He had never felt so connected to anyone before. He wraps his arms around and closes his eyes, he needs more sleep. At ten he awakes again, he can feel Abby move around. She is crawling even further up on him. He opens his eyes to see her face right in front of him. She leans in and kisses him.

“Now I am ready” she says with a big smile.

They stay in bed until noon. Theo goes out to get bread from the baker. The sun is shining bright from a clear sky and though it is minus five degrees Celsius it is a very fresh day. At the baker Theo reads the front page on the newspapers The Lakes of Copenhagen have frozen up during the night and the fire department has declared them save to skate on. People have brought music and several pancake and coffee salesmen has joined the fun. Theo returns to the apartment to find Abby on her way out from the shower. Her belongings are packed.

“I have an idea of what we can do with our last day together” he says with a big smile “I just read that The Lakes are frozen over and people are skating on them. I thought we could make a date out of it”.

“I would love that, let us make this the best day we can” she says and jumps onto his lamp and gives him a big kiss.

They pack a bag of treats and puts on warm clothes. As they stand outside on the street Abby pads her pockets for a last check.

“Oh my I forgot something” she says with a tone of hesitation “give me the keys I’ll be back in a second”.

Theo hands her the keys and she runs up in the apartment and returns shortly after.

“Now I’m ready” she says and grabs Theo’s arm.

They walk down to The Lakes where everyone is skating. They don’t own any skates themselves so they skate with their shoes. They run around playing and having fun. They stand on the middle of the ice when a loud bang is heard from above them. Two of the superpowered are flying around fighting and shooting things at each other. Everybody stops watch the fight. A bad feeling creeps in over Theo.

“Maybe” he starts nervously “maybe we should get back to land, this seems dangerous” he says and is filled with conflicting feelings.

“What, why should we go in, it is perfectly save” Abby says and pulls him around on the ice.

“I really think we should get back to land” his voice shivers with fear.

A big rock flies down from the superheroes and hits the ice fifty metres from them.

“Abby, I really think we should get back”.

Abby has stopped moving around and her face is frozen in fear. His heart stops as he sees her expression. This is it, this is what he feared. Something bad is happening. He runs towards her with all the strength he can muster. He is ten metres from her. The ice breaks and she falls through it and into the water. People starts yelling to Theo and the superpowered as the see Abby disappear. Everything has slowed down he looks at the crowd yelling at him. He looks to the superpowered that have stopped fighting. He runs to the hole in the ice and jumps in. He is not letting her die. She is not far away and he gets a hold of her. But he can’t find the way back. This is it. He is out of air. It is dark and cold. There is only him and Abby. They are standing in the dark all alone holding hand. She is so beautiful as she stands here with him. Something is pressing on his chest. He is back on land with people standing all around him. Someone is taking his pulse. People are talking to the police and medics. He passes out again. This time he wakes up in a hospital bed. It’s noon. 

“Good morning, how are you doing today” a doctor greets while checking his charts and vitals.

Theo looks around “what happened? Where is Abby” he asks confused.

“They told me you jumped through the ice after a girl. You passed out under water and one of those super guys flew down and grabbed you both out of the icy water and dragged you to shore. You got hit by hyperthermia and we rushed you to the hospital. You have been here for two days but I can say that you are ready to go home” the doctor says and helps Theo out of the bed.

“But what about Abby, what happened to her” Theo asks worried.

The doctor looks at him with sad eyes “she sadly didn’t make it. She died in the water from drowning”.

As the doctor says those words, Theo sits back down on the bed.

“You should probably call someone to pick you up. I wouldn’t recommend you to be alone today. You can leave when you are ready and I’m truly sorry” the doctor says and leaves the room.

She is gone. He can’t believe that she is gone. Just like that she is gone forever. He walks slowly and uncaring all the way home. He doesn’t pay attention to anything around him. He gets inside his apartment and shuts the door after him. The apartment is empty. It has been cleaned out. The only thing left in the apartment is a single note placed on the kitchen counter with his name written nicely on it. He takes the note and reads it. I’m so sorry Theo. I didn’t have a choice, I have a very big debt and this is the only way they let me pay it off. I didn’t mean to fall for you. You were just supposed to be a job and nothing ells. Please don’t come look for me, I can’t stand losing you twice. You were the best person I have ever met. I love you. Abby. The ink is smeared several places by tears falling in it. He looks out the window for a minute, holding the note against his chest. Tears are rolling down his cheeks, he is crying.

“WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO ME!” he yells “WHY ARE YOU TORMENTING ME, WHAT HAVE I EVER DONE TO YOU. YOU TOOK MY FAMILY. YOU BEAT ME UP, YOU EVEN TOOK MY JOB. BUT WHY DID YOU HAVE TO MAKE HER BETRAY ME. WHY DID YOU HAVE TO KILL HER!” 

Someone knocks on his door “keep it down in there” a deep male voice calls.

“FUCK YOU, FUCK YOU ALL AND LEAVE ME ALONE” Theo yells back at the door.

“If you don’t stop I’ll call the police” the deep voice calls.

“NO FUCK YOU. YOU CAN’T STOP ME. I HAVE TAKEN YOUR BEATING. I HAVE DONE NOTHING WRONG IN MY LIFE. YOU KEEP ON PUSHING ME, BREAKING ME AND FOR WHAT A STUPID STORY. A STUPID CHRISTMAS STORY ABOUT A KID WITH A HARD LIFE. NO FUCK YOU AND FUCK YOUR STORY. FUCKING CHRISTMAS. THIS IS MY LIFE. YOU CAN’T DECIDE HOW I WANT TO LIVE MY LIFE” he yells and punches his hand through the window.

“The police are on their way” the deep voice calls through the door.

“YOU CAN’T STOP ME. YOU CAN KILL HER BUT YOU CAN’T TAKE HER AWAY FROM ME. YOU HAVE TAKEN EVERYTHING. BUT ABBY I’M COMING AND I WILL FIND YOU. WE WILL BE TOGETHER AGAIN”.

He smashes his wrists down on the broken glass several times, leaving multiple deep cuts on his wrists. He can hear a siren in the distance. He breaks free a big piece of glass and jams it in between his ribs. He can feel it hit his heart. He falls down on his knees and then down on his face lying flat on the floor.